ARA Matanza (DD-1915)
The four ships of the G101 class and six ships of the B97 class were sourced
to provide the destroyers for the port and starboard screens of the battlefleet.
With the addition of a Destroyer Leader for each wing these two groups made a
potent force.
What was interesting is that the four G101 class had originally been ordered by
Argentina and were seized by and completed for Germany at the beginning of
World War One. The four ships were returned to Argentina at the end of the war,
as they had been bought and paid for, just never delivered.
These four ships and the B97's followed very similar service paths. The first
ten years of service, together, from 1923 to 1932 was with the battlefleet, as
the main escort force. From then they were replaced by the later River Class
destroyers completed between 1930-35. From 1936 the ships were taken in hand to
rebuild them with a dual purpose armament and modern fire control systems. The
propulsion systems were upgraded to oil firing during the late 1920's.
| Displacement | 1,200 tons std, 1,750 tons full load | |
| Length | 321.5 ft | |
| Breadth | 31 ft | |
| Draught | 11 ft | |
| Machinery | 2 shaft Steam Turbines 28,000shp (25,000shp after 1935) | |
| Speed | 33 knots (30 knots after 1935) | |
| Range | 2500 miles at 15 knots (original) | 4500 miles at 15 knots (after 1935) |
| Armament | 4 x 4.1" (4x1) | 4 x 88mm L56 (2x2) 2 x 37mm (2x1) 4 x 20mm (4x1) |
| Torpedoes | 6 x 19.7" (2x2 2x1) | 4 x 21" (2x2) |
| Complement | 140-160 | |
| Notes | ARA Matanza (ex-G101) (ex-G102) (ex-G103) (ex-G104) |
|
As completed in 1915.